Solo pop stars more likely to die young
單打獨鬥的流行藝人較易早死

Pitbull performs Don’t Stop the Party during the VH1 Divas 2012 show in Los Angeles, California on Dec. 16 last year. The musician shown in this photo is unrelated to the news article.藝人Pitbull去年十二月十六日在加州洛杉磯的二○一二的VH1 Divas上，演唱《Don’t Stop the Party》。此照片藝人與新聞文章無關。

Photo: Reuters照片：路透

Solo rock stars are twice as likely to die prematurely as counterparts who perform in groups, a study published in the journal BMJ Open said.

British researchers examined the fate of 1,489 rock and pop performers who had risen to fame in a study period that spanned half a century. A total of 137, or 9.2 percent, died prematurely, at 45.2 years of age on average for North American stars and 39.6 for those in Europe.

Substance abuse and car crashes accounted for nearly 40 percent of deaths, according to the probe.

Among the 114 US soloists documented in the study, 23 percent died at a younger age than the general population. In Europe, too, 9.8 percent of soloists died young, compared to 5.4 percent of group performers. Stars who became famous before 1980 were much likelier to have died young.